Adjusting arrangement for pneumatic relays of the force-balance type



Patented Aug. 3, i948 ADJ USTING ARRANGEMENT FOR PNEU- MATIC RELAYS OF THE FORCE-BALANCE TYPE Floyd B. Newell, Rochester, N. Y., assigner, by

mesne assignments,

America, as represented Atomic Energy Commiss the United States .of iby the United States Application May 8, 1946, Serial No. 668,304

5 Claims.l

'I'his invention relates to an adjusting arrangement for pneumatic relays of the force lbalance type.

In pneumatic relays such as proportional relays and reset relays of the force balance type, provision must be made for easily and accurately adjusting the sensitivity thereof.

The main feature of vthe present invention is the provision of a construction which satisfies the mentioned requirements and is simple to manufacture and is reliable in operation.

Other features of the invention will appear from the detailed description and claims when taken with the drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a proportional relay incorporating the novel sensitivity adjusting arrangement and Fig. 2 is a plan view of this proportional relay.

Generally speaking, the proportional relay operates on vthe principle of the force balance and compares the torque resulting from a pair of bellows withA the torque resulting from a bellows and spring combination.

structurally, the primary assembly of the proportional relay comprises a bellows I5 and abellows I6, both bellows being of equal size, attached at opposite sides of the midpoint of a rocker arm I1. A shaft I8 passes through an intermediate portion of the rocker arm II and is xably attached thereto. The shaft I8 also passes through a bent primary lever arm III and is in fixed relationship with said arm IIJ. The shaft I8 is mounted at its ends on spring supports I8a so as to allow for partial rotation of the shaft I8 when a torque is applied thereto. The bent primary lever arm I has a plurality of notches I3 disposed -along its upper edge and has a baille plate 23 attached to its right-end. The baille plate 23 is positioned directly above a fixed nozzle 24, and during. instrument operation, the baille platenozzle spacing is determined by the motion of said arm I0.

The secondary assembly of the proportional relay comprises a straight secondary lever arm II having a plurality .of notches I4 disposed along its upper edge, the notches I4 being in approximate vertical alignment with the notchesy I3 of the bent primary lever arm I0 so that a movable fulcrum strip I2 may be connected-between the bent primary lever arm III and the straight secondary lever arm II using screw clamping means through the aforementioned notches I3 and I4. The central portion of the fulcrum strip I2 is made of a spring steel, in order to permit flexing during periods of lever motion. The straight lever arm II is secured to a shaft I9. The shaft I9 passes through an intermediate portion of another rocker arm 20 and is lxably attached ;hereto. At opposite ends of the rocker arm 20 -matic motor and a spring 22.

-inlet 35 of the bellows I5, and a constant but adjustable pressure is applied to an inlet 38 of the bellows I6. If the thrust produced by the bellows I5 and I6 against the rocker arm .I'I is not equal, a torque will be exerted on the shaft I8 causing the bent primary lever ann I0 to exert a force on the secondary system through the lfulcrum strip I2 and the secondary lever II. Motion of said primary lever I0 also causes a change in the baille-nozzle relationship thereby changing the loading in the bellows 2| since the inlet 25 to the bellows 2| communicates with an air line 26 -which is connected to the nozzle 24. The air is supplied from a relatively constant source through a line 21 and is connected through anl orifice 28 to airlines 25, 26, and 29. The air line 29 is connected with a diaphragm of'a pneumatic motor positioner, not shown, and the pressure In the line 29 is proportional to the baille-nozzle relationship, thereby causing the pneumatic motorpositioner, to be controlled in accordance with the baille-nozzle relationship. The pneupositioner controls the ilow of gas in the system from which the differential pressure transmitter receives the signal which is then transmitted to the line 35 of the bellows I5 in the primary systems'of the proportional relay.' Il' y the pressure in the system increases, thereby causing the pressure in the bellows I4 to become greater than the set pressure in the bellows I3, a torque results in the shaftl I8 which causes the bent primary lever arm III to decrease the clearance between the baille 23 and the nozzle 24. The bent primary lever arm I0 also produces a downward thrust on the secondary arm II through the fulcrum strip I2. The bellows 2| immediately senses the increase in back pressure resulting from the new baille-nozzle relationship and causes a torque on the shaft I9, in the secondary assembly, which results in an upward thrust being exerted by the secondary lever arm II through the fulcrum strip |12 on the bent primary lever I0, vthereby opposing the downward thrust of said primary arm I0 and tending to stabilize the pressure output at a value proportional to' the pressure change in the primary assembly.

The increase in back pressure due in the new baille-nozzle relationship also causes the pneumatic motor positloner to reduce thegas flow so as to correct for the original increase in pressure which caused the unbalanced condition. Sensitivity, that is the ratio of the eilect resulting from a given cause, is adjustable depending upon the position at which the bent primary arm II and the secondary arm Il are connected by the fulcrum strip Il. A high sensitivity results from moving the fulcrum strip il to the left, and conversely the sensitivity is reduced by a movement ofsaidstripiltotheright.

While .the primarybeam or lever arm il is shown to be bent and the secondary beam or lever arm Il is shown to be straight. either or both of these arms can be bent. "Ihe important requirement is that the point z on the flexible part of the connecting strip l2 (connecting the two parallel arms or beams Il and Il) be essentially in the plane passing'through the point y in the flexible strips of the spring supports. The mentioned plane is indicated by 'the dot and dash line'in Fig. 1'. Afurther'requirement is that the connecting strip I2 be adjustably connected to the lever or beams Il andi I at the notches i3 and il so asto change the ratio of; distances between the connecting strip i2 and each pair of spring supports, which are respectively located at the right and left ends of the relay as-illustrated.

Chalisins, the ratio of distances between the connecting strip l2 and the pairs of spring supports of course changes the moment of force which the lever levers may not move in exact paralleiismand thus there is need for the flexibility or resiliency in the connection l2 between the levers. By having the il exerts on the lever Il. The

4 What I claim is: 1. In a relay device, a pair of shafts moun in spacedparallel relation to eachother, a pair offlexible supports for the respective ends of each shaft, a lever secured to each shaft. said levers extending from their respective shafts in superimposed parallel relation with each other, an edge of each lever having notches therein, and a member provided with a flexible portion and serving to connect said levers, said member being provided at each end thereof with means to engage a pair of superimposed notches in each of the respective levers whereby the effect of movement of one of said levers on the other can be adjusted at will.

2. In a relay device, a pair of shafts mounted in spaced parallel relation to each other, apair of nexlble supports for the respective ends of each shaft, a lever secured to each shaft, said levers extending from their respective shafts in supero imposed parallel relation with each other, an edge of each lever. having notches therein, one of said levers having a portion offset with respect to the plane definedrby xsaid shafts. and a member provided with a flexible portion and serving to conneet said levers, said member being provided at each end thereof with means to engage a pair of superimposed notches in each of the respective 'resilient portion of strip 'i2 lying in the same horizontal plane as kthe resilient portions of the mountings forishaftsll and Il, the amount of flexing of the resilient strip i2 is In general. ofcourse, the spring. supports Ila and lia provide frictionless mountings vfor the shafts il and' i! and eliminate any lostmotion which` there might otherwise be between the-shafts and their mountings. assists in eliminating hysteresis elects' inthe instrument, i. e., it causes levers whereby the effect of movement of one of said levers on the other can be adjusted at will.

3.-In apparatus of the character described, in combination, a shaft having a lever` secured thereto, the shaft having a mounting therefor and secured thereto including a resilient portion 'so that atorque applied for rotating it causes the resilient portion to flex. a second shaft having a lever secured thereto lying generally parallel to and overlying the first lever, said second lever having a similar mounting, and a connector having a' resilient portion extending between the levers and adjustable relative thereto.

'4. A structure as in claim 3 wherein theresiiient portions of the lever mountings and the the relationship between applied signal pressure and position of themoving parts to be the same, that is, to follow along`tlie same curve on an increase in pressure as on a decrease in pressure.

Thus, there results a. more accurate and effective instrument wherein the position of the valve being controlled is very accurately adjusted in relation to the signal pressure. The flexibility in the strip i2 obviates any v result from relative movement of levers il and Il and, as pointed out above, by. reason of its position relative to the exible portions of spring supports lla and IIa flexing thereof is minimized.v

In accordance withy the foregoing, I desire to point out my invention in the appended claims in the mannerprescribed by statute, that is to particularly point out 'and distinctly claim the particular. features and they combinations which constitute my invention. It is intendedthat the claims as written to particularly define the invention shall be interpreted to cover and include. all proper equivalents thereof, that is, variations which may be made by those skilled in the art which involve only the substitutionof mechanical equivalents insofar as either individual parts or combinatlons'therefor are concerned shall be interpreted as' coming within the meaning of the appended claims.

binding which might otherwise connector are disposed generally in a plane parallel to the levers.

5. In apparatus of the character described,'in

combination, a shaft having a lever secured thereto, the shaft having a mounting therefor and secured thereto including a resilient portion so that a torque applied for rotating it causes the resilient portion to dex, a second shaft having a lever' secured thereto lying generally parallel to and overlying the first lever, said second lever having a similar mounting, a connector having a resilient portion extending between the levers and adjustable relative thereto, anda rocker'arm actuating connected with each shalt, each arm having at least one expansible member connected to it for the rocker arms and consequently the shafts. A

FLOYD B. NEWELL.

' Barrancas crran The following references are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNI'IED STATES PATENTS Name Date Rossney July 6; 1886 Edwards et al. Oct. 6, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date l'rance i July 4, 1938 Number Number 

